Editor's note: David Frum, a CNN contributor, was a special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002. He is the author of six books, including "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again."

Newt Gingrich has absorbed a fair degree of ridicule for his campaign proposal to build an American colony on the moon. Before focusing the laughter solely on Gingrich, however, let's recall that it is the declared policy of the U.S. government to return a human being to the moon by 2020, in preparation for sending a human astronaut to Mars. If Gingrich is wrong (and he is), he's not wrong alone.

As you read this, an international space station is orbiting Earth, staffed by a crew of six (currently, three Russians, two Americans and one astronaut from the European Union). Cost to date: $100 billion.

soundoff(12 Responses)

Juray

This article is too biased.

March 8, 2012 at 1:16 pm |

mickey1313

THe base can not will not happen. For the same reason we ended the shuttle missions. WE NEVER PUT BOOTS ON THE MOON. It is proven that the shuttle has no lead shielding, and ceramic tiles do not shield against radiation. The vangordan (?) belt is 64k miles across, far to much to cross without reveiving a lethal dose of radiation, also the film would have been toasted also. There is also the matters of the reflection showing an outside light source on the footage, and the inacurate way the particles move (assumeing there is no water and no gravity. NASA has pulled the wool over our eyes for so long americans dont een question what the government says. Think about it, the computers of apallo were less powerful then a pocket calculator today, but we stopped going to the moon, when we still had many questions, and in those times plenity of funding, come on, they just knew they could no longer keep the sham up.

February 15, 2012 at 9:43 pm |

Marine57

"A moon colony is a waste of money" Amen and Amen.

February 14, 2012 at 4:02 pm |

Intelligence Police

All of the comments so far make me want to punch babies. Seriously, the lack of intelligence anymore frightens me. I think all of you should be the first to volunteer for any outer space colony. I nominate "I'm The Best" best for leader of the moon dummies, since he corrects his typos by posting more typos.

February 7, 2012 at 8:37 am |

SATELLITES

YOUR ALL WEIRD

February 7, 2012 at 1:14 am |

Gregory

If the wasted money on senseless wars and the money taken from investors had not dried up our budget, perhaps we could have sustained a moon program. Sadly, this will not be the case now.

February 7, 2012 at 12:54 am |

Kerry

A Moon colony would be far more valuable and feasible than exploring Mars, not to mention cheaper. Technology already exists or could be discovered quickly to build a Moon base. It is still unknown if we can go and return to Mars safely. The Moon has rare minerals to mine and exploit for profit. It is an ideal location for astronomical observatories, not to mention scientific, civilian or military monitoring of Earth. (Some of the reasons China is interested in the Moon). A Moon base is the logical first step in moving out to the other planets and should be high priority for the United States.

Those who oppose colonizing the Moon are doing so for political reasons, not science.

February 6, 2012 at 10:40 pm |

hamsta

not as big of a waste of money as the food stamp program.oops now i must apoligize to the food stamp president.

February 1, 2012 at 7:57 pm |

Ian

When you read this, keep in mind: the author is a conservative, and, based on the credentials, knows little about space colonization.

January 30, 2012 at 4:25 pm |

I'm The Best!

You're a waist of air. A colony on the moon could lead to huge advancements in technology and science. There should have been one put in place within 15 years of us landing on the moon in the first place. The low gravity, vacuum and temperature of space, lack of random vibrations (trains and large vehicles passing nearby) would lead to experiments being done at half the cost. It's a shame so few people, mainly my fellow Americans, see this.

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